Council leaders demand £10m funding talks with PM

Hull City Council leaders have written to the prime minister seeking urgent talks over local government funding.

The letter, to Andy Burnham and other senior cabinet ministers, said last-minute changes to the government's Fair Funding 2.0 formula would see the city receive £10m less than it expected based on previous predictions.

Council leader Mike Ross said Hull had been promised more support under the original plans and argued the city continued to face significant financial pressures.

A government spokesperson said the council would receive £383.6m for 2026/27, rising to £418.8m by 2028/29, which was an increase of 28.1% compared with the money it received in 2024/25.

The government's Fair Funding Review 2.0 changed how central government funding was distributed to English local authorities, taking effect from the 2026/27 financial year through to 2028/29.

Published under the 2024 to 2026 Starmer Labour government, it said the intention was to make the distribution of government funding fairer for all authorities.

Hull City Council said the imminent financial settlement for 2027/28 needed to reflect the current rates of inflation following ongoing economic instability.

The letter, signed by Lib Dem councillor Ross, Labour group leader Daren Hale and Reform UK group leader Richard Kelly, claimed Hull had moved from fourth most deprived authority in England to sixth under the new formula.

"The government promised a new system that would give more money to areas with the greatest need," Ross said.

The letter said Hull had a much lower council tax base than other authorities that had benefited from the late funding changes and cannot close the gap by asking residents to pay more.

The authority said it had made more than £170m in savings since 2010 and had worked hard to protect vital services.

The letter said the rising demand for adult and children's social care was putting "huge pressure" on the council.

"People in Hull deserve a fair deal from the government, and the council is determined to make sure our city gets the funding it needs," Ross said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "This settlement is our most significant step yet to make English local government more sustainable.

"We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year settlement in a decade."

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